1,720,989 research outputs found
Unraveling Supply-Driven Business Models of Architectural Firms
No full textArchitectural firms deliver services for various, unique projects that are all characterized by a high level of uncertainty. To successfully propose, create and capture value, they need business models that are able to deal with this variety and uncertainty. So far, little is known about the different business models that are used in architectural service delivery and how they enable or constrain firms to create and capture value in their projects. To continuously compete in a changing and competitive environment, this insight is much needed. In this research, a theoretical framework is developed to study the business of architectural firms. The framework is used to systematically unravel the business models for three types of value proposition that were identified from interview data collected at 22 Dutch architectural firms. The focus is on a supply-driven context. Findings highlight the importance of financial knowledge, capital-intensive partners, support of influential actors and a relationship with the buyer. Resources that are beneficial to the firm’s value creation, can sometimes constrain the firm’s value capture. The contribution of this research is a profound insight into the pitfalls and opportunities of business models for supply-driven architectural service delivery. It helps architectural firms to develop future business model alternatives and to enhance benefits from the offer of unique, creative value propositions.Design & Construction ManagementPublic CommissioningManagement in the Built Environmen
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Health Policy Approaches to Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) Infrastructure
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2021As part of the Sustainable Development Goals introduced by the United Nations in 2015, SDG 6 aims to achieve environmentally sustainable and equitable water, sanitation, and hygiene accessibility for all. WASH-focused policies produced by health organizations use SDG 6 to guide their strategies for investments in WASH infrastructure from many different angles (i.e., capacity-building, policy and advocacy, direct financial support), but there is still a lack of transparency in the roles and responsibilities of key health organizations due to the complexity behind WASH-related problems. This research investigates the WASH strategies of four leading organizations (UNICEF, WHO, Joint Monitoring Program, World Bank) that analyzes both the apparent investment roles and associated WASH infrastructure as well as the fundamental driving values that each organization displays in their strategies. Through an inductive qualitative study design, thirty-seven publicly available strategy documents and two in-depth interviews were collected and analyzed. The results were summarized into two parts: code frequency analysis and thematic analysis. The code frequency analysis revealed variable WASH infrastructure investment preferences but similarities in capacity-building and policy and advocacy roles between UNICEF and WHO, predictable roles in WASH monitoring for JMP, and direct financial support for the World Bank. The thematic analysis demonstrated that most of the policies (~60%) included in the study showed integrated values such as equitable WASH access in tandem with the conservation of the natural environment. However, ~30% of the policy was defined by singular values of either human health, the natural environment or social equity and only a very small percentage integrated all three of these values. In order to more thoroughly achieve the integrated nature of SDG 6, the policies of these organizations should aim to become more integrated if they are to meet the WASH demands of global populations
Community and Crisis: A Multiscale Analysis of Drinking Water Infrastructure Resilience in the Face of Slow-Onset Disasters
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2024Disasters can disrupt drinking water infrastructure by negatively impacting its planning, managerial, and operational components. Furthermore, detrimental impacts may vary along with the resilience of drinking water infrastructure across the United States, posing additional risks to communities pre-existing infrastructure issues due to historical and sociodemographic considerations. This dissertation examined how different slow-onset disasters impacted drinking water infrastructure and what implications this posed on the marginalized communities served by the infrastructure. This dissertation explores this interaction at various magnitudes. First, I used the qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews to determine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on small water utilities and how these impacts differed from large water utilities across the country. Second, I examined the successful and failed project attributes of drinking water projects and systems in rural Alaskan communities using interviews with a variety of stakeholders involved with drinking water in the state. Lastly, I used geospatial and statistical techniques to explore associations between historic redlining distinctions and contemporary drinking water infrastructure at a city-level. Each exploration demonstrated that the relationship between slow-onset disasters, drinking water infrastructure, and marginalized communities provides indications to understanding the history of various inequities while determining areas of improvement for resilient systems. This dissertation contributes to the literature by providing additional avenues for including systems thinking, resiliency, and disaster approaches in drinking water infrastructure research. Additionally, it supplies practical suggestions for enhancing drinking water infrastructure in the pursuit of infrastructure justice
Aligning Wind Energy Development with National Cultural Dimensions
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2019This dissertation studied how wind development operates in different national cultural environments in order to answer the overarching question: How does culture impact wind energy development? Situated within cross-cultural comparison and social acceptance research, the three studies in this dissertation offer tools for understanding and comparing the cultural context of different nations with respect to wind energy innovation. Fundamental to this research was the development of a new quantitative model for cross-cultural comparisons. Based on the World Values Survey, an inductive big data approach discovered five national cultural dimensions using multidimensional item response theory (MIRT). They are (1) Religiosity, (2) Neutrality, (3) Fairness, (4) Skepticism, and (5) Uncertainty Tolerance. While a deeply simplified representation of culture and the diversity within a nation, each dimension offers a useful tool for modelling cross-cultural differences and can be used to help us understand the impacts of culture on different political, economic, and development variables. This new cultural framework was applied to the development of wind energy in two studies. First, Fairness and Uncertainty Tolerance significantly correlated with installed wind capacity of 42 nations around the globe using a multivariate linear regression. Based on diffusion theory, these findings suggest that countries with high scores for Uncertainty Tolerance and Fairness may be more accepting of wind development. We suggest that Fairness supports wind development through developing opportunities for new technology to enter the energy market as well as through support for equitable impacts (e.g. positive externalities). Similarly, countries with high levels of Uncertainty Tolerance may be more likely to adopt wind energy despite the variability in electricity production. Lastly, Religiosity indirectly relates to the proportion of installed wind capacity. While the relationship is an order of magnitude smaller, the relationship suggest that nations with less connections to religion tend to have more installed wind energy. In the final study of this dissertation, wind developers from Sweden and the United States provided insight into how Uncertainty Tolerance and Fairness influence the social acceptance of wind development. In Sweden, high Uncertainty Tolerance was visible through the planning policies, such as the municipal veto and in the siting process through less systematic stakeholder engagement strategies. In the United States, lower Uncertainty Tolerance was observed through distributed decision-making and comprehensive, targeted stakeholder engagement strategies. The United States and Sweden have similar Fairness scores, which were visible through the inclusion of public participation and compromises with stakeholders. The findings of this dissertation can be used in several practical ways. First, in future research the national cultural dimensions can be used in conjunction with or as a replacement for other national cultural values to deepen the understanding of cross-cultural differences. Second, understanding how Religiosity, Uncertainty Tolerance and Fairness drive energy innovations allows international renewable energy companies to adapt their development practices such that they are more successful. Finally, this dissertation contributes to the nexus of social and technical knowledge for planners, developers, and engineers so that they may make informed choices about the societies that they impact
Towards a multi-scale, socio-technical view of the design and evaluation of water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2023Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are important prerequisites to human health, yet global investments in this infrastructure do not always deliver the expected benefits. The relationships between WASH and health are complex, and not fully accounting for these complexities in the design and evaluation of interventions may be limiting implementation success. In this dissertation I help the WASH sector reimagine how infrastructure can be engineered and its contributions to health and level of service measured. I propose greater implementation of a multi-scale, socio-technical perspective of infrastructure in the design and evaluation process. I present a diverse collection of research projects, each with a different scope, scale, and/or evaluation technique linked to evidence-based design suggestions. I conclude by reflecting on key conventions underlying WASH infrastructure development – namely, the use of the term community and the application of global technical WASH standards – to further demonstrate the value of a multi-scale, socio-technical approach.
Chapter 3 of this dissertation has been accepted for publication but is not the Version of Record. It includes some but not all of the modifications requested in the peer review process and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00112-6. Use of this Accepted Version is subject to the publisher’s Accepted Manuscript terms of use https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-research/policies/accepted- manuscript-term
Regulating uncertainty: Institutional implications of regulatory mechanisms for temporary accommodations for displaced persons in Germany and Sweden
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2018Regulations exist to provide a minimum standard for quality and delivery of service. However, during times of uncertainty, it is unclear as to how regulations are utilized within the immediate response. This dissertation focuses on the European Refugee Situation in 2015, analyzing the role of regulations amongst stakeholders tasked with providing temporary accommodation for displaced persons fleeing civil conflict. Data were collected and qualitatively analysed through semi-structured interviews with 54 individuals in Germany and 30 individuals in Sweden that represent government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private companies directly involved with temporary accommodations. First, a social network analysis is created to understand regulatory-related interactions between German stakeholders to identify in what ways regulations constrain, facilitate or are neutral in interactions. Second, exemptions and non-compliance of regulations in the Swedish context are analyzed using legitimacy theory and qualitative coding, finding a tension between humanitarian response (short-term) and developmental priorities (long-term). Lastly, interviews with Swedish enforcement agencies are isolated and qualitatively analyzed to understand types of enforcement that were used and how this relates to meeting the immediate need of temporary housing along with long-term implications to the housing supply. Findings from these analyses practically contribute to improving the efficiency of providing accommodation while ensuring safe living conditions for vulnerable populations. A theoretical contribution is provided through expansion of organizational theory and legitimacy theory by using normative and cultural-cognitive lens to analyze technical challenges
- …
